


Prepared to Fall

by Willowbrooke



Series: Snow in Oxford [1]
Category: Lewis (TV)
Genre: Developing Relationship, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-01
Updated: 2013-12-01
Packaged: 2018-01-03 04:15:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1065635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Willowbrooke/pseuds/Willowbrooke
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An ice storm hits Oxford, James fusses and someone falls for someone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Prepared to Fall

**Author's Note:**

> _With winter arriving, I had an idea to do a series of stories about various ways that snow might touch or impact the lives of Lewis and Hathaway. They will be written as a series, but each part will be a complete story. 'Snow' will be the only thing they will have in common. Hope you enjoy._

The rain began to shift over to a steady freezing rain just as James pulled up in front of Lewis's flat. He had volunteered to pick up their take away as they left the station and then he had made another quick stop at the off-licence nearby. As he arrived at his governor's, he was relieved to see that Lewis's car was already there.

The weather was rapidly deteriorating with the forecast calling for accumulating ice which would make the roads and sidewalks treacherous. They had decided, then, to skip pints at the pub and settle in at Lewis's with beers and take away.

Lewis had told Hathaway that he ought to just go home, but James suggested that if things were still ice-covered in the morning, it made more sense for him to sleep on the sofa at Lewis's so that they would only have to worry about getting one car scraped and on the road. Lewis agreed that it made sense, though he suspected his sergeant of an ulterior motive. James did tend to 'fuss' over him from time to time and though he was not quite ready to admit to himself that he may actually like having James fuss over him, he could no longer deny that the thought of James being so close by all night caused a stirring in his body that he hadn't felt for a very long time. He was beginning to think that it might be time to do something about it. 

***

The day had been a long and busy one so after eating dinner, putting away the leftovers and doing the washing up, they settled on the sofa only briefly to watch a bit of telly and finish their beers.

Soon Lewis yawned and stood up. "Right, can't keep me eyes open so I'm off. You know where to find everything. Goodnight, James."

"Good night, sir. Sleep well." As James settled in on the sofa for the night, his mind was occupied with thoughts of his boss. He had sensed a tension in Lewis's behaviour this evening that had him confused and more than a little concerned. It took him a long time to settle enough to sleep. 

***

Overnight, the freezing rain gave way to snow. James woke early to a quiet house and he assumed Robbie was still sleeping. Of course, that thought brought to mind the image of the man he constantly tried not to think about sleeping in the next room. He shook himself to clear his mind and groaned a bit as he moved to sit up.

He was a bit stiff after a night on the too-short sofa, but he managed to right himself and stand without too much discomfort. He walked to the window and as he pulled back the curtain, he saw a light, white blanket covering the ground. He wondered if enough snow had fallen that it would completely cover the ice and improve traction. 

Throwing on the minimum necessary clothing, he went outside to check. As he took his first step out the door, he nearly went down on his arse. So much for the question of whether or not the ice would still be an issue. He uttered a silent curse and walked back into the building.

As he entered the flat, he heard the shower running. He went into the kitchen, started coffee and tried not to think about Robbie in the shower. Before he ventured back outside, he took more care in preparing for the weather. He stepped carefully and made his way to the car without going down. Once there, he was relieved to find that the driver's side door was not frozen shut. He started the car and turned the defrost on full. After a couple of minutes of the warm air hitting the windscreen, he found his scraper and began chipping away at the ice covering it.

***

James had showered and put on the clean shirt and tie that he kept at Lewis's for emergencies. They downed their coffee and had a slice of toast each before they headed out to the car. 

"Mind how you go, sir. There's a layer of ice under this snow."

Lewis was aware of James hovering close by as he took each step and though he appreciated the fact that his sergeant...James...was close enough to catch him if he lost his footing, he found that he was not only grateful, but slightly irritated as well that Hathaway was treating him like an old woman. The kind of attention he wanted from this man had nothing to do with old women.

He arrived safely at the car and when James had unlocked it, Lewis put his hand on the door handle to open it. Perhaps because he was feeling a bit overconfident that he had made it without incident, or more likely, because his thoughts were distracting him, as he stepped aside to open the door, his feet went out from under him. Still holding fast to the handle, he slid down to the ground with the lower half of his body disappearing under the car.

James had already started to walk around the car to the driver's side. "Sir!" He moved back around the car as quickly as possible on the ice. "Are you all right?"

Lewis groaned as he tried to determine what had just happened. His arm, with the hand still holding the door handle, felt as if it had been ripped out of it's socket. The good thing about holding tight to the handle, however, was that it had kept his head from hitting the ice. His back, on the other hand, was a different matter.

James was peering down at him with a horrified look on his face.

"Robbie?" He knelt down and the concern and fear in his eyes was evident. "Are you hurt?"

Lewis was pretty sure nothing was broken, but beyond that, he still didn't know. 

"Can you move?"

"Not as long as I'm under this bloody car. Give us a hand, eh?"

James stood and reached down to grab his boss under the arms. He pulled him backwards slowly and knelt down again beside him.

Lewis moved as though to sit up and James was there to help him. Once Lewis was in a sitting position he began an assessment of his condition by moving everything once.

"Think I wrenched me back and arm a bit, but I'm still breathing. Could have been worse."

"I'm so sorry, sir. It's my fault. If I..."

"James."

"I should have waited until you were safely..."

" _James._ Enough. Not everything in the world is your fault, lad. Was me own bloody fault. Wasn't being careful, was I?"

"It's just that I feel responsible. I should have..."

"Course you do. You wouldn't be you if you didn't." Lewis reached out and laid his hand on James's arm. He gave his sergeant a smile of reassurance and what he hoped showed a bit of more of what he was feeling, but James continued to look guilt-stricken.

"Come on, help me up. Me bum is starting to go numb from being sat on this ice."

James carefully assisted his boss to a standing position. Lewis's back twinged as he stood, but he'd been through worse. He started to reach for the door handle again.

" _Sir._ Where do you think you're going?" 

"Work."

"With respect, sir, no you're not. You're spending the day in bed resting your back."

"Don't be daft. I'm fine."

"I'll be happy to ring your daughter and tell her all about this. See what she has to say."

"You wouldn't."

"Do you want to try me?" The look on James's face was enough to convince Lewis that he was fighting a losing battle.

"Fine. You win. Make yourself useful then and help me back inside."

Robbie began chuckling as they headed slowly back towards the building. "Glad no one was around to witness that. Don't even want to think about how it looked."

James smiled, then chuckled and then laughed out loud. "Oh god, I'm so sorry. It's just...if you could have seen how you looked lying there under the car. And still holding on to the door handle." He tried to stop snickering, but was having no success. It was a good way to release the tension from the scare and express his relief that Robbie had not been seriously hurt.

"Yeah, all right, all right. Suppose I should be grateful you weren't snapping photos to post round the nick." He was glad to see James laughing instead of looking terrified.

***

Lewis was settled back in bed and James continued to fuss. He'd brought the heat pad from the hall closet which he plugged in and placed under his boss's back. He'd found the anti-inflammatories and paracetamol where Lewis told him they were in the bathroom cabinet. He had water, books and Robbie's phone all within easy reach.

"Is there anything else you need? Are you sure you're all right on your own for a bit?"

"Aye, I'm fine. Sit for a minute." He waited until his sergeant had seated himself on the edge of the bed before he continued. 

Robbie gave him a smile that he hoped would reinforce the words that followed. He reached out and took James's hand in his.

"Don't know what I've done to deserve you in my life, but I'm grateful for it. Grateful for you. Don't honestly know where I'd be right now if you hadn't been the one sent to pick me up at the airport that day."

The ends of James's mouth turned up into a half-crooked smile. "That works both ways you know." 

"You called me 'Robbie' just now and I liked the sound of that. Maybe you could do that more often when we're not on duty?"

"Yes, well, it just slipped out. I was afraid you were badly hurt. I..." He looked down and Robbie reached under his chin to force his head up.

"Reckon with all this care from you, I'll be right as rain soon enough. Maybe that'll be a good time for you and me to figure out exactly what this is between us. Think we've avoided it long enough, don't you?"

"Yes, I think we have." Feeling emboldened, James finally allowed himself to give into a simple urge he had quelled far too many times in the past. With his hand trembling slightly, he reached up and cupped Robbie's cheek and played his thumb over the man's lower lip. Robbie's eyes held James's and he smiled warmly under James's touch. 

James suddenly chuckled and said, "So, it looks like you've fallen for me then."

This time Lewis's groan had nothing to do with the pain in his back but he laughed as well. "Ah, man, that was terrible."

"Sorry, but the smartarse in me couldn't resist and I know you love that about me."

Robbie continued to chuckle. "Aye, that I do, lad. Right. Well, you'd best be off before Innocent has your head on a platter."

James cringed at that image. "Yes, sir...sorry, Robbie. I'll stop back and check on you at lunchtime. I'll make sure she know why you're lollygagging today." 

As he rose to leave, Robbie reached out and grabbed his hand again. "Oh, and before you come back for the evening, you best stop by yours and pick up another change or two of clothes and anything else you might need. I think I may be needing someone to look after me for a few days."

The look that passed between them held affection, anticipation and simple joy. They had been dancing around this thing between them for so long, it was a relief that the time had finally arrived to do something about it.

"Yes, _sir._ And please try to stay in one piece until I'm back?" A smile spread across his face as he turned and walked out the door.

**Author's Note:**

> Title borrowed from Laurence Fox's song _Gunfight_.


End file.
